The Great War
by Hikaru-NeeChan
Summary: It's the first World War but it has your favorite Hetalia characters in it to make it less gloomy! Based completely on history and sorry, the characters ARE serious!
1. 1914

1914

_June 28, 1914 in Sarajevo, Bosnia_

Austria could still hear the cries and shouts of protesters outside his window. It was June 28 in the year of 1914. He was in Bosnia with Hungary and they were waiting for the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, so all four of them could go back to their country from Sarajevo, Bosnia. But then he heard a gunshot sound from the street and the outcries of the Bosnian citizens.

That was when Hungary ran inside and told him the news: the Archduke and his wife were shot by a Serbian named Gavrilo Princip. _Damn that Serbia,_ Austria thought. _I never trusted him._

"They're called the Black Hand," Hungary said in a panicked voice. "They want to get rid of Austrian rule from Bosnia."

"I thought so," Austria muttered as he glanced outside the window blinds to see a man being dragged by Bosnian policemen. In the streets, people were swarming around a car with two dead bodies in it. It pained Austria to see the sight so he closed the windows and turned around to see Germany bursting into the room.

"Why not go to war with them already?" Germany demanded angrily. "I'm offering you my support, Austria, so take it. Go to war with Serbia _now_."

Austria sighed and looked over to Hungary, who was staring at him with her green eyes. "Fine then," Austria said, "But first, an ultimatum."

_July 23, 1914_

"As of now on July 23, I will offer you, Serbia, an ultimatum," Austria told the other nation. Austria, followed by Hungary and Germany, was in the conference room with Serbia and Russia, who was the nation's ally at the time. Austria, Hungary, and Germany sat on one side of the table and the other two sat on the other side as they waited for the ultimatum to be delivered. "This proposition demands that all anti-Austrian activities will end, such as the group called the Black Hand," he continued. "In addition, your leaders will allow my officials into your country to conduct a thorough investigation of the assassination of the Archduke and his wife. If you do not agree to my ultimatum, we will be at war with you."

Serbia looked at Austria in the eye. "I agree," he said, "But to only some of your demands. Others will have to be settled at an international conference with the other nations of the world."

"There is no time for that!" Austria shouted, slamming his hands on the table." He turned to Germany and Hungary. "We're leaving now!"

Hungary nodded and Germany opened the door for them. When they left, Serbia looked at Russia. The white-haired nation smiled at the closed door and said at last, "Don't worry. I'll be behind you."

_August 1, 1914 in Russia_

Russia smiled in that creepy way of his and the purple aura illuminated him again. "It's been five days since Austria left the conference," Russia mused. "He declared war on us just this morning, you know." Russia turned to his military commander. "Tell the troops to move out to the Austrian border. Also, send some to the German border in case Germany decides to join in the fight."

The commander nodded and shouted, "Move out, troops!"

Then, the Russian soldiers started marching in that rhythmic pattern of footsteps in sync, heading towards the border between Russia and Austria and the border that separated Germany and Russia.

_August 1, 1914 in Germany_

"Sir, there are Russian troops at our border," a soldier reported to Germany. "What actions should we take?"

August 1st. Four days since Austria declared war on Serbia. Russia had to butt his stupid face into the picture because of the alliance system. Of course Germany, who was allied to Austria and Hungary at that time ever since the Triple Alliance, would have to go into war with Austria-Hungary and Italy. Nevertheless the others like France and Britain would fight, too, with Russia and Serbia.

"The troops are prepared, ja?" Germany asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Then send them out. It's about time to go to war with that damn Russia."

"What do you want us to do, sir?"

Germany looked at the soldier and then turned to face the large map spread in front of him. "The Schlieffen Plan is an easy one. Take a large part of the army and race to the west. There, we'll defeat France and afterwards, we'll head back to fight Russia in the east. Speed is a vital part in this plan. France will have troops along our border so breaking through will be slow. However, their northern border, the one between Belgium and France, is unprotected. We'll go through there and invade France."

The soldier nodded and ran to get the Germans ready to march.

Germany was still looking at the map. After today, he knew, hell would break loose.

_August 3, 1914 along the borders of Germany and Belgium_

"I won't let you through, Germany," the blonde girl repeated once again in a firm voice. Belgium stood in front of Germany with her arms across her chest as she glared at him. Her brother, the Netherlands, was nowhere in sight. Germany thought he'd be there for her but he wasn't; he also thought that if her brother wasn't around, that it'd be easy getting through Belgium. It wasn't.

"Let me through _now,_ Belgium," Germany said again, almost growling.

She shook her head. "My country is neutral so no. I'm not letting you pass."

Germany glared at the girl. "If you're not going to let me pass…" He turned around and yelled at the troops, "Move forward!"

Belgium's eyes widened. "No!" she shouted, stepping in front of Germany with her arms spread out as if she were going to stop him. "I told you that I'm not—"

But Germany picked her up and easily tossed the girl to the side. "I said, _move forward!"_ Germany shouted again and the German troops started rushing into Belgium.

_Mid-August 1914 in Britain_

"Germany invaded Belgium after she refused," Britain said as he read it off his papers. He sat at his desk, holding his papers and reading them one by one carefully while a few soldiers stood in front of him, waiting for his instructions. "Just to get to France, too."

"What do you plan to do?" asked one of the soldiers.

Britain looked up from his papers at the soldiers. "Easy," he said. "We're going to war with Germany. As France's ally and even though I despise the frog, I'm committed to the Triple Entente. Russia has already taken action and so will I."

"Britain, we need to discuss something," said a familiar French voice as he burst inside his office. "The bad news is that Central Powers have allied with Bulgaria and Turkey."

"And the good news?" Britain asked.

"Japan and Italy wants to join us, the Allies."

"Italy?" Britain asked. "Why does Italy want to join our side?"

"Because Germany made an unprovoked attack on Belgium," the Italian's voice answered from the doorway.

When Britain and France looked back at the door, they saw both of the Italian brothers standing with Japan.

"We only joined the Triple Alliance for defense and since Germany made that attack on Belgium, we're not obligated to stand by our old ally again," Italy explained. "So please, take us in."

"I would like to help, also," Japan added. "I'd be pleased to help."

France glanced at Britain, who just nodded in acceptance. "Welcome to the Allies, then," France said.

Italy smiled. "Thank you so much," he said happily "We'll send our troops to battle as soon as possible. This war will be short, I'm convinced of that."

But Britain shook his head sadly. "The lamps are going out all over Europe," he muttered. "We shall not see them lit again in a while."

_September 3-5 1914, Western Front_

Germany's breath was gone from all the attacks he made on France, who was a worthy opponent for him. He never thought that the Frenchman was strong but since he was in a stalemate, he guessed incorrectly. Along with that, Belgium started rebounding against Germany because she was angry at what he had done. And together, the two attacked Germany fiercely but luckily for days, Germany had pushed them back into Paris.

"Oh, come out, come out wherever you are," France called to Germany.

_That damn bastard!_ Germany thought. _I'll kill him with my bare hands_.

Germany gripped his pistol in one hand. He had lost his rifle earlier in the rush so now all he had was a sword and a pistol. But unfortunately, the pistol had run out of bullets so now he had to use the sword. _Damn_.

He threw down the pistol and unsheathed his sword as he peered around the corner. There was France and Belgium standing beside him. France was holding a sword, too, whereas Belgium was completely unarmed. The corner of Germany's mouth twitched when he realized what his plan was.

"Swift strikes only," he muttered. And then, Germany launched himself at his enemies with the sword raised.

France grinned as he saw Germany running towards him and he raised his weapon in his hand, ready to attack. But it didn't seem like Germany was aiming for France. Instead, he followed Germany's gaze to Belgium.

Germany instantly struck Belgium to the ground, knocking her unconscious. Then, he turned on France and the two fought like devils. Their swords collided together and the opposing countries were bracing themselves from falling. Eventually, Germany kicked France to the ground where he lay grinning up at him in the dirt.

"I know what you're plan is, Germany," France said mischievously. "In fact, you might want to go check the valley of the Marne River."

Germany suddenly froze as he heard a British voice yelling, "Attack!"

"I'll get you for this," Germany growled at France as he turned around and ran from the incoming Allies.

As Germany came upon the Marne River Valley near Paris, the Allies—Britain and France who had somehow recovered quickly—cornered him.

"Give up, Germany," Britain said. "You won't win."

"Never," Germany snarled. He saw Britain and France exchange a quick look and together, the both of them attacked Germany at the same time. Somehow, Germany evaded them and ran again from the sight. His brother, Prussia, would need his help more than he needed Prussia, so he fled the Marne as fast as could even though he was leaving the battle in a stalemate.

_September 13 1914, Eastern Front_

"Good to see you, brother," Prussia greeted Germany once he caught sight of him.

Germany nodded at Prussia, who was leaning against a broken wall. When Germany reached his brother, he saw that the area was ruined by the Russian bastards. "This isn't working as I planned," Germany muttered to Prussia.

"Think positive, brother," Prussia said, grinning at Germany.

"How can I think positive when that damn Russia already invaded my country?"

Prussia's face fell. "Right," he muttered.

The two brothers then turned to see Russia standing in front of him with that creepy smile of his on his face. Russia spoke, "Time to fight, da?"

* * *

A Note from your Author:

Hi, there, and welcome to World War I. I decided to write this story because I'm a big fan of history and adding Hetalia to it makes it much better and, well, less gloomy. We just started learning about WWI, or as it was called back then 'the Great War', in class so I decided to borrow a history textbook from my teacher and thus, I am writing it. The chapters will be broken up into years and because there are so many events leading up to the Great War, I decided to begin the story in 1914 which is when many historians claim that WWI started.

The first thing you need to know about WWI is the many contributing factors that led up to the event. The main four factors and terms that led up to WWI is imperialism (where the European nations started colonizing in other places such as Africa), nationalism (which is patriotism on steroids and that led to people like the French saying that they're better than the British and such), the alliance system (where nations would make a pact with another nation or two and if one of those nations went to war, the others would have to follow in), and militarism (where each nation's military would be built up and prepared for war like an arm's race).

A main event that actually forced the countries into war is when the heir to the position of Archduke of Austria-Hungary, Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, was killed by a Serbian group called the Black Hand. Even though the Archduke was visiting Bosnia, several Serbians decided to kill the Archduke because Serbia wanted to get rid of Austria-Hungary's rule. So when the Archduke was killed, Serbia and Russia went into war with Austria-Hungary and Germany.

Then, as soon as Germany started rallying his troops, Germany marched to Belgium who didn't want to let him through so he invaded the country to get to France. Britain got angry at Germany for penetrating Belgium's neutral borders and he went into war, plus there was the fact that Russia, France, and Britain were part of the Triple Entente.

A part about WWI that intrigues me the most is the alliance system. You see, Austria-Hungary and Germany were on a team with Italy called the Triple Alliance but when Germany attacked Belgium, Italy switched teams to the Triple Entente for his reasons that he told Britain. And also when WWI broke out, both sides changed their names so the Triple Entente was called the Allies and the Triple Alliance was called the Central Powers.

Also, a little fact about what Britain says at the end of the part where Italy switches teams, it's a quote from this British foreign minister named Sir Edward Grey, who said: "The lamps are going out all over Europe. We shall not see them lit again in our lifetime."

On the other hand, I decided to use swords because…heck. They're awesome so why not? And the scene where Germany is fighting France and Belgium is the 1st Battle of Marne, which is probably the single most important event of WWI. To all you Germany fan-girls, Germany did run away from the battle because Russia invaded Germany in the east and Prussia was the only nation trying to push back the Russians so the Germans decided to send thousands of troops back east to help with the invading Russians. Meanwhile, the Western Front was left in a stalemate.

Anyways, thanks for reading. I hope this will help you in history and stuff.


	2. 1915

1915

_Trench warfare, 1915_

The sound of gunfire was everywhere. In the past year, the Central Powers had only won five battles, and that was only along the Eastern Front in in the Masurian Lakes, Tannenburg, Lodz, Limanown, and Galicia which were all in East Prussia. The Allies had won the battle in Ypres which was at the border of Belgium and France and the First Battle of the Marne in France. There were still fighting at Gallipoli, near the Ottoman Empire's border of Bulgaria.

The nations found themselves in trenches, dug into the earth for protection and fought from the trenches.

There was mud and that was all. A soldier's life during that time period was muddy except for the moments when an officer ordered an attack, and then a soldier had to go out into no man's land where they met gunfire and bombs.

From North Sea to the Swiss border, 500 miles stretched into a terrain of death.

_February 1915, Dardanelles_

"Britain's rallying the Arabs into fighting against me," Turkey muttered to Germany.

"That's in Southeast Asia," Germany said. "Our worries are here."

Turkey sighed. "Of course," he said, peering over his shoulder. At the front lines, he saw British, Australian, French, and troops from New Zealand fighting the Turkish who were being commanded by the Germans. It'd be another month until the battle turned into another stalemate fought in trenches. But then, it'd be another eight months until the Allies gave up altogether in that area.

"Let's just keep fighting," Turkey said at last.

Germany nodded and picked up a rifle.

_May 7 1915, United States_

"This is an outrage!" cried the voice of America's boss, President Woodrow Wilson. He just got off the phone and America glanced inside his boss's office to see Wilson pacing the floor.

"What's up, boss?" America asked curiously.

"Germany sunk a passenger ship with his U-boats!" Wilson shouted.

"The _Lusitania_?" America asked. "Isn't that a British ship?"

"Yes, but out of 1, 198 passengers, 128 people were American."

America winced. "That ship had ammunition, too."

"I know." The president finally sat down at his desk and took out a sheet of paper. "That's it," Wilson said. "I'm sending a strong protest to Germany's boss. This…is…an outrage!"

America stared at his boss and then looked outside a window. "Does this mean we're joining in the fight, too, boss?" he asked.

Wilson's reply was, "If they ignore our warnings, then you're damn right."

* * *

A Note from your Author:

A year has passed and blah, blah, blah. I was honestly rethinking about writing this thing because it's soo long and boring and I'm learning about it in history class and ugh. But since I already posted the first chapter up, I guess I'll have to finish what I started.

Anyway, I kinda, sorta, maybe made a mistake in the first chapter. I was re-reading my history textbook and found out that Italy actually joined the Allies in April, 1915 and I accidently wrote that they joined the Allies in September 1914 so if you would please excuse that mistake, I'd be thankful.

So back to the story…

It's short. I'm sorry. There are barely any important dates in 1915 and 1916 and 1917… I'm honestly starting to rethink about writing this…


	3. 1916

1916

By 1916, the nations were tearing themselves apart.

The Allies took Baghdad, Jerusalem, and Damascus in Southwest Asia. Japan captured Germany's colonies in China and in the Pacific Islands. Britain and France took three out of four of Germany's African possessions. They also gained recruits from India, South Africa, Senegal, Algeria, Egypt, and Indochina to help with the war effort.

The Central Powers were still fighting their hardest.

However, it was not enough.

* * *

A Note from your Author:

I told you it was short *laughs* I need a life…


	4. 1917

1917

_February 1917, United States_

The phone rang and America picked it up at once. _Hopefully good news, _America thought. He had been receiving bad news ever since Germany sank the _Lusitania_: Germany sank three more American ships with their U-boats, even though Wilson gave Germany's boss repeated warnings. One more action and America would have to go to war.

"America?" Britain's voice asked. "Is this you?"

"Hey, Britain, what's up?" America greeted. "Anything good?"

"America…" Britain hesitated.

Immediately, America was on his toes. "What happened, Britain?" he asked quietly.

"We just intercepted a telegram from Germany's foreign secretary, Arthur Zimmerman to Mexico's German ambassador," Britain said. "Zimmerman told Mexico that they could help reconquer the land they lost to you if Mexico joined the Central Powers."

America was stunned into silence. "That's it," America said at last. "I got to go now, Britain. I'll see you on the front." Then he hung up. America pulled on his bomber's jacket over his suit and his gloves over his hands. _That idiot_, America thought as he stormed out of the office. _Who do they think they are? I'm the hero and they will go down_. _This is the last straw._

* * *

A Note from your Author:

Yeah, this chapter's a little longer but it's still short. Anyway, in this chapter America finally joins the war and yeah... In my history class, this one person asked, "Why do we always join wars at the last minute?" and my friend and I answered, "BECAUSE I'M THE HERO!"

Everyone looked at us weird.

I just love Hetalia references. Like this other time, we were discussing Queen Victoria of England and my teacher asked us to give a few details about her so when I was called on, I said:

"Queen Victoria married a German prince named Gilbert—I mean, Albert—and they had a bunch of kids together."

The question asked by my friend: "Did you just say 'Gilbert'?"

Me: "Maybe…"

If you've seen this on tumblr before, the person who created that chat was me…

And back to the story…


	5. 1918

1918

_July 1918, France_

They were back at the Marne River for the second time in the war, but the Allies now had 2 million Americans to fill in the gaps that previous battles had created. Tall figures were running towards Germany, with one American—a man that looked younger than Germany with brownish-blonde hair and blue eyes—leading them and shouting at them to be brave. The American looked inexperienced, along with his fellow soldiers, but they were advancing steadily towards Germany.

Germany held his gun in his hands, and shouted to his troops, "Brace yourselves!" He then took a deep breath and raised his gun to the Americans. Even though he was tired, Germany planted his feet firmly on the ground and watched as the Americans raced to him.

_October 1918, Austria-Hungary_

"We knew this would be coming," Hungary whispered as she looked out her window.

Outside, their people were rioting in the streets and protestors demanded that they stop fighting in the war. Hungary glanced toward Austria when he closed the blinds.

"We must surrender," Austria said. "It is the only thing to do, isn't it?"

Hungary took Austria's hands and held them to her face. Tears started leaking out of her eyes and Austria wrapped his arms around her. "It'll be all right," he said. "I promise."

* * *

A Note from your Author:

It's short…again. Sorry about that and sorry about not posting in several days. I was busy, trying to run around with my projects and stuff. I'm in a period of splendid isolation so yeah…that means I'm surrounding myself with my projects and grades and crap and it's not funny. I get so lonely at times, you know.

Anyways, I'm almost done with this. Just one more chapter to go and I'm finished (actually, as of right now, I _am_ finished with it). What's funny is that the time it took me to write this is the time that it's taking for my history class to finish WWI. Well, it's kind of not my fault almost everyone is stupid and doesn't know their freaking history.

Losers.

I began this chapter in July because I felt that I could skip a few months and save a bunch of aching moments my hand gets so I did. My reason for this is because in March that year, the Germans were still fighting The French and in late May, the Germans just got to the Marne River. Then, somewhere in between, America joined the fight in Europe and kicked ass and became the hero! *laughs*

And then later on, Bulgaria and the Ottomans surrender (because they're dumb asses, excuse my language) and during October in Austria-Hungary, riots break out and the empire ended. Then on November 9, 1918, Kaiser Wilhelm II steps down and Germany says that he's a republic and he and France sign an armistice. Then, officially, on November 11, World War Two ends.

*laughs* I love talking about the countries as if they were actual people. I'm kind of getting into the habit of that in history class. See what Hetalia has done to me? But on the other hand, enjoy and thanks for reading!


	6. 1919

1919

_Palace of Versailles_

"In this meeting," America said, "I have a series of proposals for the Central Powers and everyone must obey.

"The first four of these proposals include an end to secret treaties, freedom of the seas, free trade, and reduced national armies and navies. The fifth proposal is the adjustment of colonial claims, meaning that all colonial people will be treated fairly as if they were living in their respective country. Proposals six to thirteen, Germany, the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, Bulgaria, and the Ottomans must give up their lands for new countries. And finally, my fourteenth proposal is that a general association of nations would protect the great and small states alike.

America looked out into the room full of thirty-two nations. "My hope is that these proposals could peacefully negotiate solutions to the world's conflicts," he said.

"America, I think your proposals are a waste of time," France interjected. "You should be harsher if you want your peace. Germany will return Alsace-Lorraine to me. My border will be extended to the west bank of the Rhine River."

"I agree with France," Britain said grudgingly. "I propose that Germany surrender all of his colonies in Africa, Asia, and in the Pacific Ocean. Germany's army will have a size limit and he will be prohibited from importing or manufacturing weapons or war materials. He will be forbidden to build or buy submarines and forbidden from having an air force."

"Also," France added, "he will take responsibility for everything he did during the war. Germany will be required to pay us Allies in compensations for what he has done."

"That's not right," America argued. "Austria and Hungary were also involved and so were Bulgaria and the Ottomans."

France jumped up from his seat and slammed his hands on the table. "Germany will pay for the damage he has done to my country!" he yelled angrily. "Most of the fighting was done in my land! Your country was barely touched and if it weren't for Britain intercepting that telegraph, you'd probably be run over by Mexico!"

"Peace would be a better idea in settling this stupidity!" America shouted back.

"Settle down," Britain interrupted. "We need to sign this treaty once and for all."

France glared at Britain but sat back down. "Fine," he muttered.

"I already have it written," Japan said, pushing a paper toward Britain, France, and America. The words 'The Treaty of Versailles' was written at the top. "In the following paragraphs, America's fourteenth point is included under the title of the "League of Nations". It explains that an international association will have a goal to keep the peace among the nations. Us Allies—me, America, Britain, France, and Japan—will be permanent members of the Executive Council. The General Assembly will be made up of thirty-two Allied and neutral nations."

"Why isn't Germany included?" Italy asked.

"It was deliberate since he's the one who caused the war," France said. "Russia is also excluded because he withdrew early, so as of now he is an outcast."

"Article 231 in the Treaty of Versailles states that Germany takes sole responsibility on his shoulders," Britain said, reading from the paper. "He will pay reparations for the damage and all of his territories will be declared territories and administered by the League of Nations. Under this peace agreement, the Allies will govern the territories until they are ready for independence. Is there any questions?"

Britain looked out at the gathered nations, who nodded half-heartedly in agreement.

"Good," Britain continued. "And now onto the other treaties."

* * *

A Note from your Author:

The end! *laughs* Well, it's not really 'the end'. I still have to go through the time in between both world wars and stuff and I don't think I'll get it done before school ends. I only have a few weeks of school as of April 27th, 2012. When I take more notes and before my history teacher demands that she gets her textbook back from me, that's when I'll probably write the years before World War Two.

And so now your history lesson:

The Treaty of Versailles takes place in France at the Palace of Versailles outside of Paris. It started on January 18, 1919 to establish peace and punishment for the Central Powers. The meeting included 32 countries represented by delegates but a group called the Big Four made up of Woodrow Wilson (America), Georges Clemenceau (France), David Lloyd George (Britain), and Vittorio Orlando (Italy) were the ones who made the major decisions with barley any input from the others.

When America makes the proposals originally thought out by Wilson, they are known as the "Fourteen Points" and most of them deal with peace and such. Only several of them were included into the actually treaty. France, on the other hand, wanted to make Germany suffer and he got his way in the treaty. Article 231, as Britain states, is also known as the 'war guilt' where everything was blamed on Germany even though Austria-Hungary and Serbia started the war. So unfair, right?

And also, the Central Powers were cut up to make more countries. From the Austrian-Hungarian Empire were Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia. From the Ottoman Empire was Turkey. The lands that the Ottomans lost were made into Palestine, Iraq, and Transjordan which Britain controlled and France had control of Syria and Lebanon from those lands. Russia, who was out casted by the Allies, lost lands to Romania, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania who later became independent nations. Also, from Russia and Germany came Poland…talk about m-preg.

But in the end, the Treaty of Versailles never built a lasting peace. Its purpose was practically to punish Germany and I was so upset about it during class I almost started yelling if it weren't for my friend who loves me enough to clamp her hand over my mouth *laughs* Anyway, after the other countries agreed to the League of Nations (which kind of reminds me of the League of Evil Ex-boyfriends from the _Scott_ _Pilgrim_ series) America couldn't join because Congress decided not to. The Americans wanted to keep out of European affairs because they felt that it was the best way to keep the peace but later, America and Germany signed a separate treaty.

Also, Germany and whole bunch of other angry little nations including Japan and Italy felt that they had been left out of the treaty. You see, everyone like the Arabs who were fighting against the Ottomans in hopes of gaining their independence never got their wishes. Japan and Italy only joined the war so that they could gain more territory but they didn't because the Allies are jerky-faces. The European powers only _talked_ about giving the territories their freedom and crap so it was just left at that because America the Hero wasn't on their team. I swear these idiots are idiotic! Therefore, the Treaty of Versailles was sort of a "peace built on quicksand".

In the end, the war made everyone plunge into a depression and actually caused another world war when the war was supposedly the war to stop all wars. That, my dear readers, is called _irony_.

So thanks for reading because I think I am finally done with this crap-hole of a story.


End file.
